


Sometimes it takes courage to try

by solrosan



Series: Witches are. Witches do. [3]
Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Alternate Universe - Witches, Butterflies, Gay Eggsy Unwin, Gen, Witchcraft, Witches, Women helping Women
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:14:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22337644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solrosan/pseuds/solrosan
Summary: Eggsy discovers something's off with the... the...thing!Roxy has a minor existential crisis. Morgan tries to not sigh too loudly. Harry helps Eggsy find a way to tell Lee something important.
Relationships: Harry Hart | Galahad & Gary "Eggsy" Unwin
Series: Witches are. Witches do. [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1553854
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Meta notes:  
> 1) Morgan is the Kingsman Witches' version of the Kingsman agents' of Merlin  
> 2) Yes, she too is long suffering  
> 3) When this verse was still nothing more than a discussion with Red and Elle we found that some say that butterflies can carry messages from the world of the living to the world of the dead, and just like that Harry's special field of study was decided  
> 4) I have no idea what I'm talking about witches-wise, I've tried to keep things in line, but there is a pretty fair chance I'm off

Eggsy stands just outside the circle, his brows together in a deep frown as he studies it intensely. It’s the third time Harry has taken him to the hearg and every time something has felt... off. The first time he chucked it up to everything just being completely insane and Harry probably being an escaped mental patient, the second he just hadn’t dared to speak up. This time, this time he can’t help himself. 

“Something ain’t right.”

Harry, who has walked about three fifth around the circle of stones already, stops. “What do you mean?”

“Something’s off.” Eggsy points at the gap to the left of the central line. “Is it supposed to come from there?”

“Depends on what you’re talking about.”

“The-- aw, fuck. The thing. You know the… energy or force or whatever.”

Harry finishes his lap round the circle and stands next to Eggsy. He looks at the gap Eggsy pointed at and, murmuring something under his breath, he steps inside the circle. He looks around, up and down the invisible lines going through the centre of the circle, frowning. 

“This is not my area of expertise, but I think you might be right,” says Harry when he looks up. “We might need to contact the Druids, at the very least get some of Morgan’s people out here.”

He gives the gap Eggsy pointed at a last look and follows the flow through the centre and out on the other side with his eyes, before leaving the circle again. He pats Eggsy on the shoulder.

“Let’s get back,” he says.

“But we haven’t done nothing yet?”

“No, but if the energy -- that’s the word, by the way. It has a billion names when you try to read the literature, but we’re more and more shifting to just calling it ‘energy’. So if the energy is off, it’s better if we go home and recalculate. This one's not moon sensitive, so we can come back when Morgan’s people have had a look at it.”

“Okay…”

“Don’t look so disappointed,” says Harry. “You’ll have plenty of time to spend days and nights at harrows and if it turns out that it is like you said, the results are going to be much better if we see to it.”

Eggsy smiles at the praise. He wonders if he’d dare say something about the ley lines in the Kingsman garden too or if he should perhaps wait a few more weeks with that one...

* * *

“What if I don’t have it?” 

Morgan looks over at Roxy. The new woman stands next to a workbench, fiddling with the corner of an open, old book Morgan can’t identify from across the room. Her words had been mumbled and her eyes are on the page in front of her. Morgan’s not sure she even wanted her to hear it until Roxy looks up and meets her eyes. 

“You think you’d be here if you didn’t?” Morgan asks. “We’re not in the habit of bringing in just anyone.”

Roxy smiles, her insecurity radiates from her even if it flickers slightly at Morgan’s answer. Asking took guts, she had built up to it. Morgan decides to be nice, to save the tough love for another time. It’s a long time since she had a woman to train and she has looked forward to it. She will not ruin this.

“All I know I’ve learned from my Nana," says Roxy.

“And you’re worried you’re not a real witch because you’ve studied rather than are picking up energy flows like Eggsy?”

Roxy shrugs. Morgan sighs mentally and closes her eyes for a moment, centring herself, pushing away the frustration that wants to make her scream, not at Roxy but at the world. 

She pulls up a chair next to Roxy and sits down. The book she has been pretending to read is about crystals. Morgan promptly closes it and looks deeply into Roxy’s eyes.

“For generations, mothers and grandmothers have taught their daughters and granddaughters in ways no fathers ever taught their sons about the fine art of witchcraft,” she says. “The craft has lived on through generations of persecutions thanks to the hard work of women. Some of them could talk to the Other Side. Some of them could see energy. Some could fly on broomsticks, I’m sure, but it’s the ones who had to put in the extra work to get there who got us here.”

Roxy smiles, clearly unsure of what to make of that.

“Just look at Merlin and Harry,” Morgan continues. “Harry’s a natural, but Merlin’s _good_. Don’t let what seems to come so effortlessly for him fool you, he’s earned all of it. He has self-specified due to his interests, but there’s nothing wrong in not doing that either. It’s not just modern medicine that needs general practitioners.”

“How about you?”

“Oh, it’s a bit like Chester liked to say: those who cannot do, teach. Let’s hope the Great Spirit fucks him with a juniper branch.” 

Roxy conceals a laugh as a chough. 

Morgan smiles and winks. “I’m one of those who can fly a broomstick, luv.”


	2. Chapter 2

Harry opens his hands, still keeping them close to his mouth, and releases the small tortoiseshell butterfly. He watches it fly away, lowering his hands when he can’t see it anymore.

“What did you tell it?” asks Eggsy, who sits next to him on the steps in the Kingsman gardern. 

“Nothing important.”

“One of those ‘if you say it out loud it doesn’t work’ kind of things, eh?”

Harry shakes his head. “No, it was really just not important.”

“Who was it for?”

“Merlin’s sister.”

“He had a sister?”

Harry nods. “He has four who are still alive, five in total. I asked Judy to stop by and haunt him later if she has the time.”

“People busy when they’re dead?”

Harry shrugs. “Not sure. I can never get a straight answer from them about anything.”

“But they get the message?”

“Of that I’m sure, yes. Do you want to try?”

Eggsy blushes, looking down at his feet. “Nah, I’m good.”

“Are you sure?” Harry holds out his cupped hands to Eggsy. Through his fingers, Eggsy can see the wings of another butterfly. 

“You like a fucking Disney princess with these or something?”

Harry smiles. “No, but I’ve become really good at catching them. And it helps that Merlin has planted flowers that attracts them. Take it.”

Very carefully they transfer the butterfly from Harry’s hands to Eggsy’s. It flaps its wings, tickling Eggsy’s palms. 

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You can always insult Thatcher,” Harry suggests. “God knows I do.”

“Nah, I want to send it to my dad. Can I do that?”

“Yes,” says Harry, nodding, and guiding Eggsy’s hands to his heart. “Focus on your dad, then when you feel ready, lift your hands to your mouth and tell the butterfly your message. Then release it.”

Eggsy nods. He sits with the butterfly close to his heart for a long time, thinking about his dad. Then he finally lifts his hands to his mouth and whispers, “Dad, I’m gay.”

His hands tremble slightly when he opens them and watches the butterfly take off. He doesn’t dare look at Harry, unsure if he heard the message or not. Then, suddenly, he feels a warmth spreading through his body. The surprise makes him inhale sharply.

From the corner of his eye he sees that Harry’s watching him, smiling. 

“That feeling,” says Harry, as if he understands what’s happening, “that’s him answering.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ficlet collection was supposed to be called Next Generation, but when I went to post this it felt too boring. So instead I used a Jean-Luc Picard quote (even if it's not from the series itself) because sometimes I think I'm clever and funny. 
> 
> The quote goes: "Sometimes it takes courage to try, Data. Courage can be an emotion too."


End file.
